> In 2006, Chicago police spotted him holding an assault rifle outside an Englewood apartment building, according to the records. A second rifle and a Glock pistol were also later recovered, but Gates beat the gun charges in 2008.

Good point FWM. The post could also be titled “How Gun Runners Get Busted”. Jade always tells us they simply say it is stolen, or some such story and get off scot free. It didn’t seem to work for this straw purchaser. Some excerpts:

“Gates, 27, who was charged in federal court in Mississippi in 2009, paid various amounts for the guns, then compensated his buyers — known as straw purchasers — $50 to $100 for their trouble. He instructed them to report the guns stolen as a way to avoid the law.

Elliott filled out the form, answering yes to a key question that would come to haunt him and others.

In Box 11a, Elliott indicated that he was the "actual" buyer of the firearms. He then paid $1,500 with cash he'd been given by Gates, walked outside and handed the boxed guns to Gates.

Within about seven hours, using the gun's unique serial number, a federal firearms trace led investigators to Elliott's purchase at Ed's, which had been reported to ATF as a matter of routine.

By that time, Elliott was about to be released from his 6-month sentence for lying on the federal form. His baby daughter had died before he went to prison.

Months earlier, at his sentencing hearing, Elliott told the judge that the money he pocketed in the gun deal was the worst $100 he had ever seen.”

If most guns are bought within the state, something must be going wrong there, woulnd't you say?

Um, what would "be going wrong there," exactly? Federal law demands that all handgun sales (except to FFL holders) be intra-state (and I believe that IL law requires that all long gun sales--except to FFL holders--be intra-state, or from neighboring states).

If the sales can't be from other states, and you don't want them occurring within the state, how are people to equip themselves to defend their families, their liberty, and their lives?

Oh--that's right--you'd rather people be unable to thus equip themselves.